By Manish Chand
Port of Spain, Nov 27 (IANS) India Friday backed the IAEA resolution against Iran for having developed a secret uranium-enrichment facility, but opposed “renewed punitive approach or sanctions” and underlined the need to “keep doors open for dialogue” with Tehran.

Justifying India’s vote for the resolution, passed by a 25-3 margin at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the UN nuclear watchdog, external affairs ministry sources said here the adoption of the resolution “should not divert the parties from dialogue”.

“This resolution can’t be the basis of a renewed punitive approach to new sanctions,” an official source stressed.

“In fact, the coming weeks should be used by all concerned parties to expand the diplomatic space to address all outstanding issues satisfactorily,” the source said.

“India finally supports keeping the door open for dialogue and avoidance of confrontation.”

The IAEA resolution, which was also backed by Russia and China, key Iranian allies in its standoff with the West, demanded that Tehran immediately freeze the uranium-enrichment facility it is developing at Qom and comply with its obligations under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), to which Tehran is a signatory.

The resolution, based on a report by IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei, could form the basis for wider sanctions by the UN Security Council against Iran.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is currently in the Trinidadian capital to attend the 53-nation Commonwealth summit. The Iranian nuclear crisis will also figure in his discussions with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and French President Nicolas Sarkozy on the sidelines of the Commonwealth summit.

India has consistently supported Iran’s right to peaceful uses of nuclear energy, but has qualified it by asking it to maintain its obligations under the NPT.